Five Movements for Temporal Beings

source: lagalerie-cac-noisylesecfr

Dans ses performances, Essi Kausalainen (née en 1979 en Finlande) tente d’entrer en relation avec des éléments non-humains – objets manufacturés, végétaux, minéraux… – et explore les connexions possibles entre ces différents règnes. Essi Kausalainen s’intéresse à différents systèmes d’existence qu’elle interprète et avec lesquels elle communique dans ses performances à travers les mouvements de son corps. Pour l’exposition, elle présente un performance in situ inédite lors de laquelle elle brouille les frontières entre elle-même et les éléments qui composent son installation.
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source: hiapfi

The basis of my artistic practise is the human body with its senses, instincts and thoughts. By making performances, video installations and by drawing I make notices on humans amongst other living things. I view the world as an organism – as a constant movement of the different forms and ways of being. In my art I translate my observations on the living into a poetic language of images, gestures and spaces.
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source: stplinnakenet

Essi Kausalainen was born in Helsinki (1979). She has studied performance art and theory in Turku Arts Academy (1999-2003) and in Theatre Academy, Helsinki (2005-2007). From the year 2000 Kausalainen has worked in the international performance art field, performing in numerous festivals around the world (Europe, Asia, America, Africa). In addition to her performance work Kausalainen is active in the field of visual arts. Since 2004 she has had seven solo exhibitions (Turku, Helsinki, Malmö). Essi Kausalainen lives and works in Helsinki.
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source: streetlevelhelsinkifi

Essi Kausalainen (b. 1979) has studied performance art and ­ theory in Turku Arts Academy and the Theatre Academy of Finland. Her work has been exhibited and performed in venues such as Kim? (Riga), Malmö Moderna Museet, Frankfurt Kunstverein, Museum for Contemporary Art Roskilde, Nikolaj Kunsthalle (Copenhagen) and Kunstraum Bethanien (Berlin).

“The thematic and ethical basis of my artistic practice is my interest in interspecies communication – the complex interaction between humans, plants, animals and minerals. Instead of images or objects, my work takes the shape of actions and gestures.”
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source: fix2013wordpress

The basis of my artistic practise is the human body with its senses, instincts and thoughts. By making performances, video installations and by drawing I make notices on humans amongst other living things. I view the world as an organism – as a constant movement of the different forms and ways of being. In my art I translate my observations on the living into a poetic language of images, gestures and spaces.

In the core of my art lies the questions of existence: What does it mean to be a body?
How does the being of a human differ from the being of a plant or a rock? My work approaches these philosophical questions in a practical and corporal way: I place my body within the plants of a greenhouse to trace the movement of life in the muscles and in the leaves. I structure my performance to simulate the circulation of water on earth to understand more clearely its affects on different living organisms. I seek meaning in the human shape and its gestures as well as in the uncontrollable action of the nervous systems and the muscles. All these different levels are meaningful to me since they all open new perspective in understanding the life in us.

Essi Kausalainen has been active in the international performance art scene since 2000. In addition to her performance works she has had six solo exhibitions in Helsinki, Malmö and Turku presenting videos, performances and installations. In her work Kausalainen explores the complex relations of beings and things by creating ephemeral situations and spaces.